I'm tired of cooking/preparing 3 meals a day. It's just the two of us but boy oh boy can that woman eat!! She stays slimish, I get fattish. It's bad enough I do everything here much less start making her one thing and me the other. At times I feel guilty when I buy her fast food cuz of the nutritional value....not to mention I eat it too.
I have been a carer for 10 years, and spend 100 to 140 hours a week looking after my father as he slips deeper into the abyss. Being a carer is an extremely altruistic thing to do, especially for someone with dementia, but don't expect any sympathy or respect. Carers such as myself save the state a small fortune but are given nothing but contempt in return. Unlike carers, our leaders are greedy, self important, selfish liars. Lets face it if they gave a fig we'd receive a wage (even if it was only 1 pound an hour) not an allowance. To them we're just mugs that provide superior care on the cheap. The worst part isn't being on means tested benefits, it isn't the sleep deprivation or stress, it isn't watching my own home deteriorate or having people ask why I can't sell it to support myself. No, the worst part is the never ending abyss of loneliness.
Read more: dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2790362/uk-s-dementia-care-betrayal-nine-ten-care-homes-hospitals-fail-patients-says-damning-report.html#ixzz3FzjRTpM4
I did move the nanny cam into her bedroom so I can see what she's up o at 4 in the morning....
hospice? No Bob, no.... just not time for them.
as much love as i feel for my mother..... truly, the hatred for my brothers grows.
I wondered which Alz medications she is taking. Some of the things prescribed don't help during later stages. If your mother is taking one, e.g. Aricept or Namenda, you may want to talk to her doctor about discontinuing them. I have a philosophy that the fewer drugs in people's system, the better it is unless we know something is helping. What medication is prescribed to calm her restlessness? If it is too much for her, perhaps her doctor knows a medication that will work better.
I feel so bad for you tonight. I wish we could help by doing more than sending you the biggest hug. I am wishing that your mother could sleep through the night, so that you could also. I know she is not going to get well, but this disease is so cruel to make it so hard. (((((Jeanette & Mom)))))
She's been taking the Exelong patch for at least 5 years, also 1 mg Resperidone and 40 mg's Citrapolam. It's all given during dinner, supposedly to help her sleep at night. Some day's she sleeps, most days she doesn't. It wouldn't be so bad IF she didn't always find herself in precarious places. Scooted up under the night table, scooted inside the closet, seem to be her favorite places. I'm sure it has to be scary and cold to sit there for how many ever hours. The nanny cam is up and running in her room, it has sound and an alert for movement so... hopefully this will keep her from sitting too long.
I appreciate everything cap, really... I'm sure it wasn't a walk in the park for you and I doubt it is now either. This all seems so surreal and like a awful dream at times.
The thing that get's me the most about my brothers, is their total absence. I don't care if they dislike me, surely they can't hate me enough to never question about mom, her health or whatever, just no interest at all?... as far as they know, she could already be gone and ..... crickets. whatever.... what will be will be, today was a great day for mom (even without much sleep). hehe, she even found her stash of her peanut butter cups!
Hmm, docs office called. Urine and blood all came back normal. Awesome! Now if I can just get this internal clock reset, it will be more manageable. She has another appt in a few weeks, I will ask for something stronger that hopefully will not affect her in the mornings.
Maybe I am getting scared of what eventually is going to happen. I haven't recovered from losing my dad ....maybe I'm losing my mind... maybe I am getting lonely and miss my friends and family in FL, since I have no one here... maybe it's just everything.
On a good note... the tie dyed shirts we did the other day, turned out fabulous. Tomorrow we shall bedazzle them up a bit since it's going to be raining for days :/
i had a normal day today with the expected good and not so good aspects . i " aquired " an air foil off of a 93 camaro trunk lid thats going to morph into a bitchin wind cowl to go in front of my over - the - cab truck toolbox .
the not so good ; i actually had a few minutes of chest pains today while cutting wood and thinking about the audacity of that retard upstairs thinking she could drag those filthy animals of hers back into this house . i nearly lost my s*it living with that yapping and stench for 9 months and had not planned on ever revisiting this subject of dogs again . aside from this hassle , having someone upstairs is a great arrangement right now for them and myself both .
we have a rainy streak here too . having just bought a used kitchen sink and with my upcoming chicago trip , ill need to find no budget home projects for a few days . cant waste money -- mom would piss up a rope ..
I guess, for a lot of us all of "this" means we take acception towards the stuff that used to bother us? Learning process? Growing process? Could be...
Not all dogs are filthy Bob I do respect your voice in this.... but c'mon, how awesome are puppies and puppy breath!
Patience must be learned grasshopper... this is your new learning experience Ha, sounded good to me :) I could spout many of those "you can't look a gift horse in the mouth", analogies........... but I won't (lucky you) mom is finally asleep after 5 attempts to get up and wander aimlessly around the house with glassy eyes not understanding anything... uh oh..just watched the nanny cam..... and here she issssss
Turning off all stimulating noises now, tippy toeing past her room avoiding those squeaky areas. thanks bud.... I appreciate all of your experience and valued opinions.
I know I have learned a lot about memory issues so now I will understand what may or may not happen when and if my aging parents cross over to that illness. Or later down the road if my sig other or I start having those health issues.
I realize when we get older we don't plan ahead to learn about these things. I know whenever my sig other has a new health issue, we both scramble to learn more about it. And having an informative geriatric doctor is a godsend [my parents don't like their doctor but I do].
our bathroom was real pretty but the outdoors was prettier .
i visited the old house over the weekend . many funny memories . the aforementioned bathroom had a brick floor outside the shower stall so one could step out soaking wet and the brick would absorb the water . the window was covered with a film for image distortion and the curtains were tied back living vines in a one piece steel , double planter box where a curtain rod would normally be located .
beautiful house for such a gaggle of maniacs .
Mom: I shut off the fan
Me: Why
Mom: It was going fast
Me: Didn't I ask you not to touch anything that you don't know about (this is a ceiling fan operated wirelessly by wall switch which she doesn't know how to use, messing up the entire light fixture)
Mom: I forgot
Me: I thought you were watching tv. Are you watching tv or the fan?
Mom: I'm watching the fan
Me: Do you want to watch tv or the fan?
Mom: I want to watch the fan.
This is where I take the deep breath, close my eyes, and remind myself that it's not reasonable to try to talk reason to a person with dementia.
\it is so nice and cool outside... I want to take my big siddie pittie for a much needed walk. HA! I have put everyone on low cal food!
My parents had a good doctor prior but he went into the MD-VIP program and my parents didn't want to pay the annual fee to be part of that program. Sad because my parents could easily afford the program. And that doctor was so good with them. Their current doctor was recommended by their prior doctor, but [gasp] the doctor is a woman.... my parents generation they were use to all the doctors being male. My Mom feels the doctor should be home having babies.... [sigh].
My Mom also has the same opinion about female sport announcers... "what do they know about sports?".... my Mom can bore me to tears talking about pro football, the names of all the quarterbacks, names of all the coaches, and the teams standing.... wait a minute, I thought women don't know anything about sports :P
my friend betsy's ( flatline ) son tickled me last evening . he said his sister in college should stop gallavanting the country doing stupid drum line and get herself a job . he dont realize it yet but hes picked up a huge portion of that cynicism from me over the years . drum line -- no wonder this girl is 60 % ego and 40 % spoiled brat ..
My parents are into football, but now narrow it down to one team [they can't stay awake enough to watch it all day long like they use to].... my ex-hubby was a big football fan, and so was his mother. My sig other is glued to football, basketball [both pro and college] and baseball. Talk about feeling so alone :(
i recieved good news today . va letter said my kidney function was back to baseline .these letters are in code but i know how to decode them . what it meant was " ya see screwball . we get better labs when your not chomping down every unused prescription in morgan county " .